Knocking on Heaven's Door in Islamorada

Follow
a crushed coral drive, 800 feet winding through two acres of native plants and
exotic animals, a deliberate wild. Egrets pose, a white dove coos, an
iguana scurries out of your path.

Set
amid impeccable gardens, the great house looms. The front staircase
splits to embrace a massive royal palm stretching thirty feet, fronds
feathering the roofline. To one side is a salt water pond, your private
aquarium. To the other is the conch house, an early dweller on this six
acre paradise, just five feet from the water's edge. Grandfathered in,
it's now your marina, leading to a dock that in turn leads to a 1000 foot
deeded boat basin.

Tomorrow
you can sail out for some tarpon fishing, or snorkeling at Hens and Chickens
reef. But now a hammock beckons from the island that forms and reforms
with each tide. An osprey flies by the lighthouse, its walls shot with
red and gold by the setting sun.

Inside
the house is equally fantastical with floors inlaid with exotic woods and
marble, a vast living room with a coral wall facing a wall of windows that
opens to a 200 foot veranda overlooking the water. Custom built by local
artisans, with no expense spared, the concrete walls will withstand 180
mile per hour winds.

There
are nine bedrooms, ten baths. Downstairs is an indoor pool with waterfalls, a
whirlpool bath, toys. There's an outdoor pool as well, of course. What
would a fantasy be without one?

And
you're just an hours drive from Miami's
hustle, just off Old Highway 1, far from
the traffic and tourists on Islamorada's Millionaires Row. It's as much of a
commute as you might already have. Take your pick of which car, there are
four garages.

The
sun has set. Night falls. It's just you and the stars, the ocean and the
breeze.

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About Me

A freelance writer for...years...I live with my husband (The Prince) in a too small house with an equally small patch of garden on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC where everything is in more or less perpetual disrepair. Meandering in and out is Baby (our daughter), her dog Lula, and their brand new husband, the lovely Pete. "Wrote This, Wrote That," is a holding zone for a selection of my newspaper and magazine features and photos. These are generally more informative than my blog, Who Needs Flowers/Off With Their Heads...which is peripherally about gardens.